Embodied Breath - Sense Your Ribs & Improve Your Breath

Where our attention and intention go, so does our energy. In this meditation we go within for somatic awareness of the ribs to expand lung capacity, therefore, helping to create ease of movement in the thoracic spine, releasing tension in the back and neck. Also enabling the vagus nerve to transmit a calm and relaxed signal across the vital organs, helping with cellular repair and boosting the immune system.

music Christopher Lloyd Clarke

Transcript

Lying down on your back with your legs bent,

Heavy on your sacrum and your ribs and head supported Allow your body to settle down I invite you to take your awareness to your breath Breathing in through the nose and exhaling gently through the mouth Finding a steady rhythm A steady even pace Gently,

Softly and with ease Just being aware of your breath Notice your breath into your belly,

Feeling the rise and the fall And the sense of softening and letting go on your exhalation Feeling a sense of lightness on your inhale And a sense of release on the exhale as you let go We're going to take our attention to our rib cage and as we do so still invite the belly to rise and fall As you breathe in,

Can you breathe in to the back of your rib cage?

Feel the back of the ribs become heavier into the ground beneath you Feel the heaviness of your ribs Earth expansion of the lower ribs on your inhalation Keep breathing in and out On your inhale feel the back of the ribs expand and then this side of the ribs The front of the ribs and soften on your exhale So keep breathing a pace that suits you but draw your attention to each inhalation of expanding your rib cage From the back,

From the bottom,

From the side,

From the front And let it all go on your exhale allowing yourself to sigh out Take your awareness to the back of the ribs and the lower rib cage and as you breathe in sense the opening of the back of the lower ribs Drawing the diaphragm down And then start to feel the side of the ribs expanding wide and continuing the flow up through your breast bone to your first ribs And then soften from your first ribs back down Your sternum,

Your ribs,

Back to your floating ribs Almost seeing like a flower opening in bud Becoming fully alive and expansive And then allowing the softness like a draping silk cloth on your exhale Noticing if your rib cage becomes more mobile,

Whether your breath becomes more fulfilling Notice if your breath becomes more expansive Breathing in feeling the ribs open at the back and the base and widening round the sides to the front coming up the sternum and your first ribs And as you exhale like a silk scarf softening back down Just explore the shape of your rib cage Allow your jaw to relax And be curious with the movement,

Don't force anything Just explore Keep going with your visual Keep feeling,

Keep exploring,

Keep noticing Each lung is inside a thin sac called pleura As we inhale,

The diaphragm lowers,

Pulling down on the pleura and the lungs expand And as the rib cage expands outwards,

Backwards and forwards and upwards So does the pleura and so do the lungs have more room to expand in the thorax,

The rib cage So as you inhale,

Imagine the lungs expanding in all the available space that you create Feel the ribs expanding downwards,

Outwards,

Sideways and upwards and feel those lungs expand into those places Just notice,

Beware of your inhalation and beware of your exhalation How expansive can you make your lungs feel?

And with gentle exploration,

You may find you can improve your breath,

Gain more oxygen and nutrients and also improve your posture and thoracic mobility Be sure to relax your jaw as you focus on your breath And come in with a sense of curiosity We only know what we know And it's only when we're open and more receptive can we explore if there's more available to us And then just gently come back to your normal breath The more we practice embodiment,

The more we notice Where our attention and intention goes,

Our energy will flow When you feel ready,

Come back up to sitting and take a moment just to notice how you feel Notice if you feel more expansive in your ribs,

Notice if there's any ease of movement through your thoracic spine,

Through your shoulders and through your neck Thank you for choosing to breathe with me today Have a wonderful day

Reviews

Oh this helped me a lot! To be guided by your gentle approach enabled me to really arrive in my ribcage and open it up to new dimensions.
And now it feels so thankful and awakened there that I am really deeply touched.
🫶🙏

I love a simple, guided breathwork session. Your voice is very soothing and the music was a perfect addition. Thank you! I feel a lot less tense and my breath is certainly deeper and fuller!

I feel expansive and relaxed. I will return to this powerful breathing meditation. Namaste 🙏

Thank you for this thoughtful, insightful practice 🙏🏻🧡🌸

What an unbelievably helpful experience. I have been breathing from my chest of late (covid anxiety, global pain, my own aging) and the shallowness of my breath increases my sense of anxiety. I feel calmer and like I have a new skill to build with good visualizations of what I am trying to achieve. Thank you!!!

Interesting! There’s a lot here. Will have to do this one again!

This was absolutely perfect for my needs, and fills a specific niche that I have tried to find a practice for. I have multiple musculoskeletal issues which make it difficult to move in the mornings especially, but at times throughout the day, too.

Myofascial adhesions in the back of the ribcage that we can't completely release (they are helping hold things in place) make fully expanding the ribcage difficult at times, and over the years I developed some paradoxical breathing patterns as a result. Been working on correcting that now for a while, but while apps that monitor the evenness of breathing by resting your phone on your chest as you breathe are nice, they also tend to provoke a bit of anxiety in me as they often vibrate or make a sound if the breathing is lopsided.

This practice here is beautifully simple and allows me to direct my attention to the back and sides of my ribcage while breathing, without that unwanted potential external feedback. The fact that it is done entirely lying on my back helps with my proprioception and awareness of how evenly my thoracic spine and ribs are contacting the bed (which is quite firm and has a heated top to help relax the muscles in the morning).

I was so tired last night that I fell asleep with the remote in my hand but never got the bed adjusted, so I ended up falling asleep on my side, flat. My husband worked on my back for about 45 minutes until I could roll over independently with only moderate pain - I had locked up on my side, it hurt so much. I've had radio-frequency ablation on the lumbar and cervical spine, but not thoracic, so obviously I felt that far more than the other two regions.

I grabbed my phone and pulled up my back pain Playlist, but the few thoracic spine tracks I have there don't focus quite enough on the ribcage for today's needs. I was tremendously happy to find this practice when I did a search for "ribcage," all the more so because part of my regular daily practice is listening to your "Shine" practice (which is on the majority of my playlists, no matter what they are for). It was wonderful going into a new practice but being familiar with your voice, speaking style, and all else. Like meeting up with a friend for lunch and seeing your friend got a new haircut and color that looks great - a different look, but still the same friend. 😊

I found that I had a bit of trouble coordinating my breath with the expansion, but I expected that since it's something I have been working on. Laying my fingertips lightly on the lower ribcage, spanning across to the sides a little was also helpful for me to direct my attention and receive sensory feedback. My right back ribs were a bit rotated inward from sleeping in my side (I call it "clamshelling"), so laying on my back for this entire practice did allow them to gently move back into a more even plane with the other side. Now if I can just get my diaphragm and lungs to cooperate with each other and inflate fully in sync, I would be one thrilled camper. 😁

Whether that happens or not though, I am so excited and happy I have found this practice you so kindly and generously shared with us here on the Insight Timer app, Sue. The Universe knew what I needed today, and must have guided me right to it and you. 💞

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

I see you and the light within you. Be well. 🤲🏻❤🤲🏻

Really good

Thanks Sue, it’s a lovely guidance. I started laughing for no reason, with my in breath. Thanks so much. Stay well. A ☺️🌸

Lovely Sue, a peaceful session, thank you! 🌈💖✨✨✨